Hearts outline European and domestic aims as Istanbul Basaksehir arrive in Edinburgh

With the Europa Conference League visiting Tynecastle Park for the first time on Thursday evening, Hearts manager Robbie Neilson called for unity as he admitted his team must adjust to the combined demands of domestic and European football.

He said staff will do everything possible to help players manage the workload of constant midweek and weekend matches. The Conference League Group A opening tie against Istanbul Basaksehir will be the Edinburgh club's eighth match in less than four weeks.

Neilson explained that the aim this season is to improve on last year's league performance whilst coping with the travel and prestige of playing in Europe.

Hearts's 1-0 defeat at Livingston on Saturday was their fifth loss in the last six games. A result against Turkish opposition would boost morale at the start of their Conference League campaign.

"For me, the spark comes from the energy and freshness. We don't seem to have that at the moment and we need to try and get back to that," Neilson told the Evening News.

"Tynecastle with 20,000 people will generate that but hopefully the four days' recovery will also help after Saturday. When you play Thursday-Sunday, you only get 48 hours of recovery and that can be difficult for the boys."

Hearts signed free agents goalkeeper Zander Clark and midfielder Robert Snodgrass after the summer transfer window closed last week. Clark was registered in time to meet UEFA's deadline for the group phase but Snodgrass will only be eligible for domestic matches.

Both players will add more depth to the Riccarton squad, which has been beset by a number of injuries to key players during the early weeks of the season. Neilson is not seeking to offer excuses, however.

Hearts players are preparing for a Europa Conference League debut.

Asked if the constant midweek-weekend-midweek schedule was beginning to take its toll on his squad, he replied: "I think it can but it's something we need to get used to. The objective this season is: 'Can we improve on last season while playing European football?' We went to Livingston and won last season so we haven't improved yet. We need to try and get back to that again.

"People say they are footballers but they have the mental side of it as well. They need to go again and again against teams who have had all week to prepare."

Basaksehir arrived in Edinburgh on Wednesday afternoon ahead of a scheduled pre-match training session at Tynecastle. As well as two matches against the Turks, Hearts will play home and away against Riga FS from Latvia and Italian giants Fiorentina before Group A concludes in November.

"We will be travelling here, there and everyhere and then come back to play in Scotland," said Neilson. "We have to get used to it and help the players through it. It can be easy to criticise but you have to look at how we can help the players.

"These guys are not experienced at doing this and it's a very hard thing to do. You go away, travel, play in these big European nights, finish at 11pm, then you're asked to do it again on the Sunday against a team which has prepared all week.

"These games are going to be tough, that's why we need everyone together."